V-Flyer

Arrived at LGW around 8.30 the night before and used Twilight for bag drop having already checked in online during the afternoon. Staff were pleasant and efficient and the whole process took less than 5 minutes.

The next morning I made my way to the airport at 10.00 having spent the night in the Travelodge, first stop was Fast Track (or should that be Slow Track ) security which took 20 minutes. It still amazes me how many people can’t follow basic instructions such as remove your belt as it will set off the metal detector or take your laptop out of it’s case.

Headed straight to the clubhouse which was only around a third full, made an appointment at the Cowshed and then took my seat where I was quickly offered a drink (I declined any food). Nothing further much to report other than to say that the service was excellent and the Back and Shoulder massage first class

By the time boarding was called most of the other passengers had already left so I made my way to gate 21 (via the sweetie shop) which was deserted. Only around a dozen passengers on the air bridge so it was quickly into 12A.

Not long after being seated it was doors closed and we were pushing back to make our Westerly departure. Take off was smooth and with 420 passengers, 4 babies and 14 crew we headed directly to Lands End to make a direct crossing over the Atlantic.

For those of you that have read my trip reports before you will know UC is slightly wasted on me as I neither drink and am not a great eater of fancy food (I normally have a PE or Economy meal), however, I was persuaded by the FSM to try the chicken as she said as airline food goes it’s not too bad and true to her word it was fairly tasty

The rest of the flight was uneventful, I caught up on some TV programs on my laptop and had a little snooze. As usual I passed on afternoon tea instead eating the chocolate I had packed into my hand luggage.

Although it didn’t effect me it was another example of VS turning off the IFE far too early (about an hour before landing) this really doesn’t make sense especially on a MCO flight where you would have thought they would want to keep the ankle bitters quiet for as long as possible

As we flew a direct route over the Atlantic we crossed the coast just North of Cocoa Beach which gave us some fantastic views of the Space Centre and the now redundant shuttle launch pads. Landing itself was smooth and the crew held back both downstairs economy and the upper deck which resulted in being off just after the small economy section. Immigration was a 10 minute wait which was good as we had landed only about 25 minutes behind the VS015.

Overall a good flight with an excellent crew.


-Steve

Thanks for the TR Steve Great to see the clubhouse delivered yet again. Personally I think they turn the IFE off early so they can collect the headsets in (I may be wrong)maybe virginboy can give us a heads up on why they do this?

Jurgen

Sounds like a good all round experience for you Steve. It seems the Clubhouse team are providing consistently excellent standards according to latest reviews, do well done them :-)
Wished MIA passport control was as quick as MCO!
Cheers
Mark

Excellent TR thanks for your time to write it up.

cheers

alex

Thank you for the TR.